Process of Final Project

Trip to Project Onward

How one moment changed everything for me

I experienced a situation in my teaching endeavors that effected me greatly. I was implementing a 10-week art program for pre-schoolers at a HeadStart campus in Phoenix AZ. At the beginning of every session I did a quick warm- up activity with the students, usually drawing with crayons. During one session I explained to the little ones to draw something that made them happy on one side of their paper and something that made them sad on the other. Majority of the kids were drawing stick figures at this age. I walked around the room to talk to them individually see what they were drawing. I approach a little girl who was always graving attention and was always in good spirits. I asked her what she had drawn. She explained that she drew her cat, that made her happy, on one side and her father shooting her mother with a gun on the other side. I was not expecting such a response to this activity. I was also stunned by the way she explained it- with out any hesitation and with normalcy. As an educator I commended her on her skills such as use of color and straight lines. I was not sure how else to respond. I was new at the teaching thing and had come from a very stable and loving upbringing. This sort of experience was never even thought of in my life until then. I realized what these kids were going through and I felt a sense of empowerment but at the same time thankful I was there in a positive way- even if it was only for 2 hours a week. I kept that drawing for a long time and looked at it often (not sure where it is now). It motivates me to continue my experiences in art teaching and art making, as well as lets me know how thankful I am for the life I have.

Introduction to Art Therapy, B. Moon Chapters 7-11

I've been keeping up with reading the book weekly. It is an easy read compared to other literature I am reading. I picked out a few interesting points...

come back

"Mommy hates me 'cause I'm Bad: The Early School-aged Child, Ages 2 to 7" G. Klorer

Again, this reading was a bit difficult because of the traumatic situation these young children experienced. But I did find this reading very informative because the author related the children's situations to their drawings and the stages of artistic development and psychological/behavioral(?) development. I am amazed as how much is retained in the memories of these young children. Also interesting is that a main focus is helping the children recognize an discriminate between feelings. That sometimes they can't distinguish the difference between anger and sad. I feel that art making is a good way to work on these mental challenges. Play therapy is introduced in this reading and it is just as fascinating as art therapy.
Wish the images wee more visble.

"She'll always be my Mother" Wunika Hicks

It was suggested that I be more personally and emotional in my journal entries. This reading, along with others, gave me the perfect opportunity to respond more emotionally. I can't imagine anyone not reacting in some way to Wunika's stories about her abusive childhood. It is appalling that children are treated this way. But in the circumstances where this abuse is experienced through different generations it's hard to place entire blame on the adults. They are only repeating the actions that were in their own childhood. It's so sad that children who experience abuse tend to blame themselves. As a stable adult I find it very difficult to put myself in the child's shoes and feel what they are feeling. This is something art therapists probably have to do. I also think it would be difficult as a therapist to carry these stories around with you. It takes a very strong person to separate their lives from their clients. This is one apprehension I have when considering this field. Am I emotionally strong enough to to take on these disturbing stories?

Final project...

I've been thinking and thinking what to do for my final creative response for this class. I know I want to respond to idea of the therapist as an artist and always acknowledging this role. The best way for me to respond to this is to obviously create a piece of art. Hard part is... what do I create? I think I'm contemplating it too much and taking away valuable time that could be dedicated to the art making process. A self-portrait seems to easy... what else could I create?

Ooops, missed class

Just too busy to make it to class this week. Very disappointed I missed the guest speaker. Be back next week!

Mid-term reflection

*This post is acting as my one page refection of where I'm at in the course thus far.*

Well, in the past 7 weeks or so I have contemplated a slight shift in my possible future career choices. Currently I am finishing up the master's program here in Art Education. I have notice a lot of my art educational theories and practices have therapeutic elements to them. Such as my current thesis work with homeless youth creating community-based activist art. Some aspects I'm investigating are participation and acknowledgment of identity through art making to promote personal and social change. I think these can pertain to art therapy as well. When I applied to SAIC I was torn between the Art Education program, Art Teaching, and the Art Therapy. The only thing that hindered my admission to the Art Therapy was my lack of Psych classes. I could have easily taken them over the summer at a community college. Thinking of taking them this summer. I've been considering a certification in art therapy once I graduate. It's a bit pricey though. But first... gotta finish this thesis!!

I am really enjoying the book, "Introduction to Art Therapy" by Bruce Moon. Right away he expresses his definite role as an artist as well as a therapist. He even mentions that the artist role may be more important than the therapist. I found this so intriguing and refreshing. As an art educator, the idea of being an artist is not as prevalent. I would like to be more in touch with my artist responsibilities but feel like I haven't been able to make the time for them. I am also intrigued by his practice of creating art along side his patients. This is something educators definitely do not do for the most part (unless it's a collaborative project). I am enjoying his vignettes of his past patients. Some of them are more descriptive than others. Some of the experiences he describes with patients seem so minimal but I realize that every little bit of response/reaction he gets from a patient is progress. As an educator I am use to being with students for a short period of time. As an art therapist much more time is needed to build those trusting relationships and to create gradual success. I think I would enjoy spending longer time with students/patients.

The guest speakers we have had so far have been great. I've been loving the different perspectives and practices within the Art Therapy realm. It is really encouraging for those seeking a possible education and/or career in art therapy. And each of the guest have expressed and/or shown their own art making practices and it's importance in their therapeutic careers. I have greatly appreciated the art making activities we do each week. Not only have we seen different methods of art making it has been therapeutic for us as students. I haven't made my own art work in such a long time. I am usually very meticulous and prefer a lot of time to work on one piece of art work but it has been an appreciative challenge creating these smaller and less time consuming pieces. I never use collage type of elements in my larger paintings and it's something worth considering now after the little works i have created in class.

I am excited for the rest of the semester and creating a final creative response. It will most likely be a painting. Possibly a painting that can be incorporated into my thesis. Lets hope that finishing up my thesis doesn't kill me :)

Guest Nicole Baily :)

This week our professor shared with us her clients art work. In the book, Bruce Moon doesn't show many examples and if he does they're very hard to see as black and white copies. I thought looking at these works answered a lot of curiosities. I was curious to see the patients artistic skills as well as learn how these works are evaluated. I think some people would think that a drawing created by a patient would answer the problems but the art is a tool for answering those questions. It was interesting to see work from different types of patients- children/adults/mentally ill. And I like the idea that the art doesn't necessarily have to solve anything. It can just be a positive release for some people.

Next we did an art making activity. We were to trace our hands and create something from those drawings. i overlapped my hand a few times. I colored each section a different colored. I am very annoyed though that I screwed up in the middle with using the wrong color. I would have preferred paint. I am interested to see what further interpretations my teacher can give me.

Time to see a shrink??

In chapter 7 of Bruce Moon's "Introduction to Art Therapy", he mentions that all art therapy students and colleagues should enter psychotherapy. It's funny, I have always been apprehensive about therapy for myself but now I can see why others would be too. I should be open to it if I was going to practice it myself. "Physician, heal thyself."

Guest Angela Lyonsmith from Global Allinace for Africa

Our guest this week, Angela Lyonsmith, introduced the non-profit organization she works for called Global Alliance for Africa. She implements therapeutic elements into art programs in Kenya and Tanzania. I think that all art programs in grief stricken parts of the world should have therapeutic intentions. This is something I would love to do. I want to travel and work with kids anywhere in the world. Not to mention the amazing wildlife and scenery that is experienced.

This weeks art making activity concentrated on the dimensions of personal identity. "A" dimension includes- age, culture, ethnicity, gender, language, race, sexual orientation. "B" dimensions include- educational background, geographic location, hobbies/recreational, religion/spirituality, work experience. "C" dimensions include- historical moments/eras. We were to create a collage type of art work that encompassed any of the dimensions mentioned above. Enjoy :)

"Making or Breaking: Art Therapy in the Shifting Tides of a Violent Culture" Lynn Kapitan

This article assigned for this week was much more intriguing and less repetitive than last weeks, "Shamanic Continuities". Kapltan writes, "I wonder why it is that art therapists have not consciously expanded their role from clinician to activist or peacemaker... why aren't art therapists contributing more deliberately to advocacy for transforming our violent culture into one that is compatible with life?" Since I have not been familiar with the art therapy realm I am surprised that art therapists aren't more involved with the issue of violent culture. Artists and educators have been approaching this issue for years. I think adding this therapeutic element could introduce new ideas and ways of dealing with this issue that couldn't be explored with just artists and educators.

Guest Eric Spurth from Sacred Transformations

This week our guest plays the role as an art therapist in a unconventional yet effective practice. Though he does work in clinical settings he embraces his work through an organization he created, Sacred Transformations. Eric Spurth and his volunteer team recreate existing tattoos on people that may have negative cogitations or express painful memories. Also, they transform scars, burns, gunshot wounds with tattoos. What he is providing is a therapeutic transformation but more therapy lies in the process clients must go through to get there tattoo/scar recreated. He does not consciously recognize it because he is mainly concerned about his role as an artist. Again, being an artist as well as a therapist is emphasized by our guest. I find his work very inspiring and he sets an indirect yet positive path for future artists and/or therapists.
http://www.sacredtransformations.org/

Introduction to Art Therapy, B. Moon Chapters 5+6

A couple weeks ago in class I mentioned my curiosity about Bruce Moon's practice of creating artwork along song his clients. He never really explained why. In chapter 6 he explains, "I must emphasize here that I believe it is imperative to engage in art processes in the course of the art therapeutic encounter with the patient. This a vital element of art therapy practice, not only pragmatically, but ethically imperative. The courage that I honor as I struggle with my own imagery is infectious. It establishes a safe milieu in which the patient is enable to enter upon his own excursion into self-exploration. As his journey begins, his expressions trickle, ooze, gush, spew, and surge onto the page. It is my willingness to be with my own images that lays the groundwork that allows the patient to believe that I will understand his symbolic metaphors. If I can open myself to what he has expressed, the patient feels the twin edges of enjoyment: the vent of emotion for himself, and the awareness that he has been understood by another."

I LOVE this practice and I wish it was something embraced in art education. There have been times in my past teaching experiences where students wanted to see me make art but it wasn't something consciously planned and was more for entertainment. One problem that I feel may arise in this practice is the clients insecurities about their work- skill level, subject matter etc, compared to the therapists. Would a client feel their art work isn't as good as the therapist because the therapist has more experience/knowledge? If a therapist can work around this obstacle with his patient I feel this practice can be extremely effective- for both patient and therapist.

Guest Erin Mooney from Open Studio Project in Evanston

This week our guest speaker was Erin Mooney from Open Studio Project. I have never heard of this organization before now. I am drawn to their mission and can see how both art education and art therapy play a role here. The process of art making is emphasized and this is something I am acknowledging in my thesis, teaching experiences, and personal artwork. I was a little skeptical of the "no comment" policy that is implemented during the art making and sharing process. How can relationships be built if there is no communication? Possibly they could emphasize on positive commenting. Maybe because of my experiences in educational settings I am all for dialogue. After doing the activity it was easier to digest this "no commenting" policy. I was not proud of my collage and was happy not to hear comments from teachers and classmates suggesting composition changes, subject matter, etc. It was simply a therapeutic activity. I gain power from my own work and writings, not from what others have to say about it.

Introduction to Art Therapy, B. Moon Chapters 3+4

"The heart of the profession is experienced in moments that defy verbal description."
Relationships are formed by doing... doing art. I am starting to understand that this formation of relationships is a very important aspect to effective art therapy. This is something I believe true in educational settings as well. Maybe I'm not completely familiar with art therapy processes yet, but I think that relationship building may be easier in therapy settings rather than educational since there are so many standards and other outside factors interrupting that process in education. In therapy I feel the interruptions are primarily mental and can be overcome.

This book has been a very enjoyable read. I like the mix of the authors experiences as well as knowledge. An intriguing "situation" he has mentioned a few times is that of him creating art work along side his patients. I wish he would expand more on this. I am curious to know how this approach is effective.

Guest Judy Sutherland

It was great to meet our guest Judy Sutherland this week. She really reiterated the importance of the role of an artist as she showed her chalk/pastel. It was interesting that she showed her own journey through her artwork and not patients as I was expecting. The art activity we did was fun. I was eager to volunteer to be the guinea pig of the class and have the work i chose as well as my own evaluated and deciphered. I wanted to hear what people thought about me but I think it can be very difficult to figure that out through artwork. But I guess you learn this step thoroughly through a lot of experience and practice.

"Introduction to Art Therapy" B. Moon, Chapter 1+2

Reading this book makes me wonder why I am not in the art therapy field. I love what I'm doing in the art education field but I feel there is something missing. I love how the author, Bruce Moon, expresses his position that an art therapist is an artist as much as a therapist, if not more. This is something lightly discussed in the art education field... being an artist and educator. But in the beginning of this book he clearly acknowledging the role of the artist. I like to think of myself as an artist but this role has been overshadowed by other roles such as educator, researcher, volunteer, etc. Reading this encourages me to practice my own art making on the regular.

Another important notion deemed extremely valuable is love. Not only love for you profession/clients but love for your own art and work. This is a very desirable and intriguing aspect to the field that should be addressed in almost any profession or line of work, but sadly it isn't. This notion of love kind of reminds me of Paulo Freire and his stand point on education.

"Art Therapy: What it is and What it is Not" Article by Judith Rubin, 1982

Since I have many experiences as an art educator and have been immersed in art educational studies in graduate school the past two years, I've been wondering how art education and art therapy are related... or not related. A lot of my art teaching practices and intentions lend themselves to therapeutic situations. I guess I'm really curious to know how the process of art-making differs in education vs therapy. In this article Rubin states, that the primary distinctions are invisible and inside the head of the worker and, eventually, of the patient. This still doesn't completely answer my inquiry. I know that having a strong grasp on the therapy aspects including development, psychodynamics, and interpersonal relations are means of distinction but in the article she also says you need to know about yourself. I found this interesting. And after pondering it, it makes sense. You need to know how you work (feel, behave, etc) before you can learn to see how others work. This is never really brought up in educational practices.

I know this article is just an introduction to the field and didn't answer my curiosities just yet. But for those who have never had these curiosities- now they do.

I'm ready for more....

New semester- new blog

I'm excited about this class and excited to start this blog. I know this blog isn't extremely creative but I know it will be effective in responding to readings, lectures, etc. Since I am on the computer a lot working on my thesis this allows me to add posts at my convenience. Enjoy!!